Columbia Riverkeeper and other conservation groups today filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle against the federal Environmental Protection Agency and its controversial new administrator Scott Pruitt.

Riverkeeper—along with Snake River Waterkeeper, Idaho Rivers United, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, and the Institute for Fisheries Resources—filed the suit in an effort to get the EPA to work to cool the waters in the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Doing so would improve the survival chances of salmon and steelhead in both rivers.

Dams in the both rivers slow the flow of water downstream, leading to higher temperatures. Columbia Riverkeeper says that warm water temperatures in 2015 killed 250,000 sockeye salmon in the Columbia.

Warm water in the Snake and Columbia rivers is walloping endangered Snake River sockeye, but Idaho Fish and Game officials are hopeful at least some of the salmon will rest in pockets of cold water and resume their migration when temperatures moderate.

There is some evidence that is happening below Lyons Ferry Hatchery, and the state and Nez Perce Tribe are considering options to trap the fish and truck them to hatcheries or lakes in the Stanley Basin.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the above-average temperatures in the two rivers may eventually kill half of the 500,000 unprotected sockeye bound for the upper Columbia River and most of the listed sockeye headed for the Snake River.

"We think probably 80 to 90 percent of the adult (Snake River) sockeye are going to be lost this year," said Michael Milstein, a spokesman for the federal fisheries agency at Portland, Ore.

Pete Hassemer, salmon and steelhead fisheries manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Boise, said it was too early to make such a dire prediction.

"It's bad, but it's still early enough in the season, if the temperatures cool and if we stimulate some movement, we can trap them and truck them up to Eagle Fish Hatchery so we can get fish for brood (stock) and release them into the Redfish Lake."

More than 4,000 Snake River sockeye salmon have passed Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, but only about 350 of those have been counted at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River. Idaho recently began an emergency effort to intercept sockeye at Lower Granite and truck them to the Eagle Fish Hatchery near Boise. As of Monday, 37 sockeye had been trapped there and loaded on trucks.

That emergency operation could expand to Lyons Ferry Hatchery on the Snake River near Starbuck. The hatchery uses cold spring water to raise steelhead and fall chinook. Hatchery employees have noticed sockeye salmon stacking up in the hatchery's effluent. In a cooperative effort, the trap at Lyons Ferry was opened Monday in hopes sockeye will follow the cold water into the hatchery.

But as of Monday afternoon, no sockeye had entered the trap. If the fish continue to be reluctant to enter the hatchery, seine nets could be used to capture them.

"We told (Idaho officials) we would send down some boats. We have a lot of seine nets we use to sample fall chinook," said Becky Johnson, production manager for Nez Perce Tribal Fisheries Program. "The Nez Perce Tribe would be available to help with a collection effort if there are some adults holding out there in the effluent but not converting into the trap."

Sockeye are Idaho's most endangered salmon species. They teetered on the brink of extinction in the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century.

But a captive breeding program, where the fish were spawned in a hatchery and some of their offspring were kept there for their entire life cycles and spawned again, eventually boosted the number of sockeye returning from the ocean from the single digits to more than 1,500. Two years ago, Idaho constructed a sockeye hatchery that will eventually produce more than 1 million juvenile fish per year.

While still critically endangered, the species appeared to back away from the brink of extinction this decade and state and federal fisheries officials were hopeful they could continue to build on their success.

This year could be a set back. But even if the adult run turns out to be disastrously low, Mike Peterson, an Idaho sockeye biologist, said the hatchery program would continue at full speed using fish from the still active captive breeding program.

"The fact that we still have the captive brood stock program in place, even though migration conditions are not real good this year in terms of warm water, we are going to be able to make our egg take with the fish we have on hand."

When possible, he said the goal of the sockeye program is to use fish that have migrated to and from the ocean for both hatchery breeding and for wild spawning. However, the hatchery spawning needs can be backfilled with the captive sockeye.

So far, none of the sockeye counted at Lower Granite Dam have arrived at traps in the Stanley Basin of central Idaho. Peterson said he expects that to happen any day. But those fish faced higher-than-average temperatures in the Salmon River.

The heat wave in late June and early July sent river temperatures as high as 78 degrees near White Bird. Temperatures above 72 degrees can be lethal for salmon.

Peterson said he hopes to learn something from the 4,000 or so adult sockeye missing between Bonneville and Lower Granite dams.

"I think mortality is going to be an issue," he said. "What I'm kind of hoping to learn from these fish is whether they will pull into some sort of thermal refuge and, once conditions cool off, whether or not we will see those fish start moving again."

"I kind of think these fish might be holding on and we might see a push later on over Lower Granite Dam. But I don't know if I would expect any of those fish to make it back to the (Stanley) Basin."

Lewiston Port Manager David Doeringsfeld talks about the container shipping situation at Portland, Ore., that has now stopped container traffic to the Lewiston port on the Columbia-Snake river system. Port Commissioner Mike Thomason listens during the Wednesday meeting.

Two of the four employees at the Port of Lewiston's container operation are losing their jobs and another is being cut to half time as their employer faces the reality of no longer handling shipping containers.

One employee will remain to cover whatever business the port finds for its dock, and will be assigned other duties, such as maintenance.

The container yard's scheduler is the employee who is going to part time. She will do bookkeeping and provide technical expertise as the port looks for new customers.

"She knows a heck of a lot more about pricing and moving commodities than I do," said Port Manager David Doeringsfeld.

The layoffs were announced at Wednesday's port commission meeting, just one day after Hapag-Lloyd confirmed it would no longer call on the Port of Portland in Oregon. More than a dozen community members and economic development experts attended the meeting, asking questions about the issue or offering to help.

The news prompted the Port of Lewiston to suspend its container operations indefinitely. Hapag-Lloyd shipped most of the containers that originated in Lewiston and traveled the Snake and Columbia rivers to Portland on their way to overseas destinations.

Hapag-Lloyd was one of two remaining container carriers at the Port of Portland, where almost all outbound cargo from the Port of Lewiston goes before being transferred to oceangoing ships. Another, Hanjin, left Portland in March.

Exactly what effect the change will have on the port's finances is not clear. Doeringsfeld predicts the loss for this fiscal year could be in the neighborhood of $20,000.

By comparison, container operations generated $1.5 million for the port in fiscal years 2007 through 2014, Doeringsfeld said, including $900,000 from megaloads.

It's too soon to know about next year since the port could find new users for the dock, he said, such as makers of wood pellets, clay or large pieces of equipment like rock pickers that might be rolled on or off a vessel.

Lewiston port commissioners said they have been dealing with the possibility of discontinued container shipping on many fronts.

In one instance, Commissioner Jerry Klemm wrote an email to a labor leader he knows. Klemm asked for the labor leader's help in seeking a resolution to conflict between union workers and Portland container terminal operator ICTSI Oregon, which has been blamed for slow handling of containers at the Port of Portland. The email recipient, Klemm said, acknowledged the communication.

"The union has sought to improve operations only to be rebuffed by ICTSI management," International Longshore and Warehouse Union spokeswoman Jennifer Sargent wrote in an email.

"We hope that ICTSI revises its 'take it or leave it' approach with their workforce, customers and vendors, because it's been tremendously hurtful to the entire region," Sargent wrote.

ICTSI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Lewiston port commission has also brought the issue to the attention of Idaho Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter and Idaho Department of Agriculture Director Celia Gould, said Port Commissioner Mary Hasenoehrl.

The hope was they might influence Oregon's governor, who appoints Port of Portland commissioners, Hasenoehrl said.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has been following what's unfolding at the Port of Portland closely, said Chris Pair, a spokesman at her office in Salem.

Brown unveiled a $250,000 project Wednesday to compile a list of recommendations for Oregon's 2016 Legislature to help small- and medium-sized businesses with their transportation challenges.

Regardless of how successful those efforts are, Hasenoehrl said the Port of Lewiston will continue to be relevant.

"We still have a lot of work to do with our economic development," she said.

In other business, Port of Lewiston commissioners allocated $10,000 for a new public outreach initiative with the ports of Clarkston and Whitman County, which are also contributing $10,000 each.

"The committee shall have the authority to collect and disseminate information and to engage services of consultants and experts on an as-needed basis," according to a description of the initiative in an agreement approved by all three ports.

Native American tribes say not enough is being done to address an “imminent crisis” in fish passage on the Columbia River due to the drawdown of the reservoir behind the damaged Wanapum Dam in central Washington.

In late February, the dam’s operator, Grant County Public Utility District, discovered a 65-foot-long crack in a concrete spillway pier at the dam and was forced to draw down the reservoir behind the dam to relieve pressure on the structure. The utility has hired a contractor to drill core samples in the dam and determine the extent of the problem. That job should be done by June.

Paul Lumley in the Oregonian: To manage the Columbia River, we need a new treaty for a new era

Paul Lumley's op-ed on the Columbia River Treaty, which appeared in The Oregonian May 5, opens a subject SOS members will hear and do more about: how can Northwest people make sure that the 50-year-old Columbia River Treaty is modernized for today's, and tomorrow's, Northwest? The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, which Mr. Lumley heads, represents four of 15 Columbia Basin Tribes that have joined together inside the Treaty process to make the Treaty's purposes and provisions better serve our new century. After a recent meeting with them, SOS and others have begun working together to assist the Tribes from outside the Treaty process. Or, more accurately, the Treaty process will soon become a political process - as it should - and that's where we'll work. Lumley's op-ed helps show why we are excited to assist the 15 Tribes' efforts to improve the Columbia River Treaty.

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Oregonian Guest Opinion: To manage the Columbia River, we need a new treaty for a new era

By Paul Lumley. May 04, 2013.

The Columbia River Treaty between the United States and Canada has been a hybrid of fears and profits since its ratification in 1964. Narrowly designed for flood control and optimized hydropower production, the treaty has locked in 1960s priorities that do not reflect the modern values and considerations of our time.

Over the course of the half-century since the treaty was made, the region's measure of the Columbia River basin's benefits has evolved to encompass uses that extend beyond power production and aggressive flood control. Regional and national values, as reflected in laws such as the Endangered Species Act, have expanded to include healthy fish populations and healthy ecosystems. Ecological requirements are not included in the current treaty, but now is the time to move them into the limelight.

Before the treaty's 50-year control of the river gives way to a new era, a progressive regional recommendation must be put forth that reflects this evolution of societal values. A modernized treaty should provide equally for ecosystem requirements, hydropower operations and flood-risk management. Working through the treaty review process, the region must look beyond the narrow approach employed 50 years ago and take a broad look at what the river needs. Equal consideration of improved spring migration of salmon, seasonal flushing of the estuary, resident fish requirements and salmon passage at all historic locations are all needs of the Columbia River basin to include in a new treaty.

Let's move beyond our fears of flooding and begin a new conversation on flood-risk management. Flooding is a natural process that benefits the estuary and cannot always be prevented. The 1948 Vanport Flood, often used as a scare tactic to defend the current treaty, would not have been prevented even with the Columbia River Treaty dams in place. New approaches to flood-risk management can provide lower-river benefits without creating havoc in upriver reservoirs.

The Northwest region is scheduled to make a recommendation to the U.S. State Department by year's end on the future of the Columbia River Treaty. The U.S. and Canada will address several major issues, including the sharing of risks and benefits. The Columbia basin tribes will work to include river health as a regional benefit, not something to be negotiated away.

The United States has a monumental opportunity to do the right thing for the Columbia basin's fish populations. The tribes are steadfast in our belief that the Columbia basin ecosystem -- ignored 50 years ago -- must be incorporated this time around.

The salmon and other natural resources are depending on all of us as stewards of their future. Let's make sure that the next Columbia River Treaty is a treaty of our time and our values.

Paul Lumley is a citizen of the Yakama Nation and executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. CRITFC provides technical support and coordination for fishery-management policies of the Columbia basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and the Nez Perce Tribe.

Lewiston Morning Tribune: Crowded conditions likely on Clearwater

Salmon anglers are accustomed to rising early, sometimes long before fishing hours, to ensure they get a prime spot.

Those fishing the Clearwater River might be forced to go to even further extremes this year.

A below-average return of spring chinook prompted the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to close long stretches of the river and to limit fishing to Fridays through Mondays.

"They are going to shove a lot of people into a little area and everybody is going to be fighting for spots," said Toby Wyatt, owner of Reel Time Fishing of Clarkston. "It's going to be mayhem."

The river will be closed to chinook fishing from Arrow Bridge to the mouth of the North Fork and from Greer Bridge to the mouth of the South Fork. The Lochsa River won't open at all and only a short section of the South Fork Clearwater, from the State Highway 13 bridge near the Harpster Grade to the State Highway 14 bridge near the Mount Idaho Grade, will be open.

That will make for stiff competition when it comes to territory.

"People who want to get in those holes are going to have to get there at 3 in the morning," Wyatt said.

Joe DuPont, fisheries manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Lewiston, said some people will be forced to find new places to fish and others will contend with crowding at their favorite holes.

"People used to fishing in one area might see people they haven't seen before, so yes, there is going to be a need for people to get along."

He said the Clearwater regulations were designed to try to ensure the small number of chinook available for harvest are shared evenly over time and throughout the river system. This year's run, as measured at Bonneville Dam, got a late start. Fisheries managers like DuPont still don't know if the run is simply late, as it has been over the past few years, or weaker than expected.

To make sure enough adults return to Clearwater River hatcheries to meet spawning targets, the department took a conservative approach to season setting. That means if the run is simply late, there is a chance there will be more fish to catch than expected.

DuPont said the department prefers to loosen regulations if the strength of the run allows rather than to be overly optimistic and have to shut fishing down early.

"I'm hoping we can expand areas and expand days, but I guess that is yet to be determined."

Outfitter Jason Schultz of Hells Canyon Sport Fishing at Lewiston said he thinks there is some reason to believe the run might be stronger than the forecast used to set fishing regulations. According to his theory, fishing in the lower Columbia River in Oregon and Washington is concentrated on the early part of the run. Fish that return to Idaho have the furthest to swim, so they are generally the first to pulse through the lower Columbia and because of that they face heavy fishing pressure. But the Idaho fish that bring up the rear face less pressure downriver and have a better shot at reaching their destinations.

"Over the years, it is making our run later and later and later," Schultz said.

Evelyn Kaide, owner of the Guide Shop and Clearwater Drifters at Orofino, said planning for spring chinook fishing is nearly impossible.

"We've had some really good years and some bad years and we've gotten stopped in the middle of the season and then had it reopen," she said. "Everyone of them has been different."

Many outfitters like Kaide, Schultz and Wyatt book trips before the season starts and are now juggling to compensate for the days of the week fishing won't be allowed.

"It's tough and it's very nerve-racking," Kaide said.

But she said once people start fishing, they should try their best to get along and forget about the hassles of booking trips or getting their spots."You just got to let it go and just fish," she said.

For those looking to avoid the crowds, the vast stretches of lower Salmon and Little Salmon rivers and the Snake River in Hells Canyon will be open seven days a week.

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Save Our wild Salmon is a diverse, nationwide coalition working together to restore wild salmon and steelhead to the rivers, streams and marine waters of the Pacific Northwest for the benefit of our region's ecology, economy and culture.